Abstract
JUST fifty years ago there appeared a remarkable book, the fruit of much thought, experience, and wide travel, entitled “Systematic Technical Education for the English People.” Its author was Mr. J. Scott Russell, F.R.S., the designer of the Great Eastern, the largest vessel of that time, which rendered singular service in the laying of the first Atlantic cable. The volume was dedicated to the Queen, and the purpose of the dedication was declared to be “to entreat her Majesty graciously to consider the case of the uneducated English folk who are now suffering great misfortune in their trade, commerce, and manufactures, as well as in their social, moral, and intellectual condition, through having been neglected and allowed to fall behind other nations better cared for by the men whose duty it was to lead as well as to govern the people.” The Queen was urged “to issue her Most Gracious Majesty's commands to her Majesty's Ministers to see to it that for the future the dexterous, energetic, willing working people of England receive at the hands of the Government a practical education for useful life as thorough and systematic as the best-educated nation in Europe.”
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REYNOLDS, J. Fifty Years of Technical Education. Nature 104, 257–259 (1919). https://doi.org/10.1038/104257a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/104257a0